PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION Higher fuel costs, declining ridership force fare rise

CINCINNATI (AP) -- The regional public bus system says it will have to increase fares in 2005 for the first time in 12 years because of higher fuel costs, stagnant revenues and likely increases in health care expenses for employees.
Such expenses and ridership decreases within the past few years because of the sluggish economy have forced numerous other U.S. transit systems to increase fares, according to the American Public Transportation Association, a trade organization for transit agencies.
The proposed increases for the Metro bus system are subject to approval by the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority board and the Cincinnati City Council. Revenue from Cincinnati's earnings tax funds half of Metro's $73.5 million budget.
Charlotte Adams, 48, of Cincinnati, rides the bus daily to work and said Thursday that a fare increase would hurt.
"It makes a big difference in your budget. If they raise the rates that much, I might go buy a car," Adams said as she waited for a bus at a Metro shelter.
"I depend on the bus," said Bob Bigley, 72, a retiree who doesn't drive. "I'll have to pay it."
More than 50 percent of transit bus trips are for commutes to or from work, according to the transportation organization.
More than half of 104 transit agencies surveyed by the association reported ridership declines in peak and off-peak hours during the 2002. A total of 37 percent of the agencies raised fares in 2002 and 46 percent did in 2003, according to the survey.
Decreases in government support and advertising revenue and increased premiums for property and liability insurance have forced transit agencies to take steps including freezing salaries, delaying capital spending, reducing staff or cutting back on service.
Fare schedule
Metro proposes to standardize its bus fares within Cincinnati at $1, compared with 65 cents now for off-peak hours and 85 cents at rush hour. Service to Cincinnati suburbs within Hamilton County would rise from the current 65 cents to $1.50 and in neighboring Clermont County from 65 cents to $2.
Still, the agency's new fares compare favorably with those in St. Louis, which increased fares this year from $1.25 to $1.50, and Milwaukee, up this year from $1.50 to $1.75. The fares charged in Columbus and Cleveland are $1.25, $1 in Dayton, 85 cents in Toledo and $1.75 in Pittsburgh.